


Odd Pair

by AKUltiWarrior



Series: MTNN Drabbles and Short Stories [1]
Category: Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro
Genre: Author’s given up on everything, Fashionably late to the party, Gen, Neuro doesn’t care, Yako’s given up in caring, as in a whole lotta years late, doesn’t have enough fics, he never did, outsider pov, post-manga, she hates everything too, this fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 15:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19134634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKUltiWarrior/pseuds/AKUltiWarrior
Summary: Fumio Todomori drops by the famous high school detective “Katsuragi Yako’s” office in search of help. She doesn’t get any in the end, and instead walks out of the office with far more questions and not a single answer.





	Odd Pair

Fumio Todomori walked quietly but with purpose, her footsteps echoing against the empty hallway. She scanned the slip of paper in her hand, a certain detective’s address hastily scribbled on it.

 

“Gosh, maybe I shouldn’t...” she mumbled. Doubt once again clouded her mind, but she shook it off and strode further to her destination.

 

She finally stopped in front of a seemingly unsuspecting door, a plaque with the words “ _Katsuragi Yako, Demon World Detective Agency_ ” written on it in print. She sighed and summoned as much courage in her as she could.

 

She knocked on the door. Once, twice, and then thrice.

 

 _There’s no turning back now_. And with that final thought, she braced herself as the door slowly creaked open.

 

The face she frequently saw on TV greeted her, and for the first time it hit her that she was _meeting a celebrity_. All coherent thoughts flew out of her mind, leaving her gaping at the girl like an idiot.

 

They stared at each other.

 

“...Can I help you?”

 

With that, Fumio got her shit together and obviously the first thing she says is, “Do I hear yelling inside?” She almost slaps herself. Almost. However, she does start to wonder who could possibly be swearing up a storm in the famous detective’s office.

 

Katsuragi smiled apologetically but before she could get another word out, the door was violently slammed open from the inside. Fumio jerked away and thus came face-to-face with an intimidatingly tall man who had eyes that practically _screamed_ death.

 

And then said eyes stared right into hers. She squeaked. “Outta my way,” he grunted. It was clear he was not in the mood for objections, and Fumio would be the last person to attempt to do so.

 

Katsuragi fixed the man with a glare. “Godai-san! Don’t be rude to our clients,” she chastised. “Godai” huffed and stomped away- Fumio swore she could almost see steam rising out of his ears.

 

“Can- can I come in?” Fumio asked, her tone practically pleading. Her mind was already a mess on her way to the office, she did not need any more “excitement”. Katsuragi let her in with an understanding nod.

 

_Oh god, is this stuff normal around here? And her office is called “Demon World Detective Agency” too... What did I just bring myself into?_

 

And so she walked in expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised by the clean and simple room that greeted her. Katsuragi led her to the couch, and Fumio caught sight of a man (foreigner?) standing by the desk.

 

A little unnerved by the man’s presence, she sat down and thanked the younger girl for the tea she offered. Katsuragi settled down on the couch opposite to hers and asked, “What’s your name?”

 

Fumio tugged nervously on her shirt. “Fumio. Fumio Todomori,” she replied. Katsuragi slipped on a pleasant smile and continued, “Please, no need to be so nervous. We won’t bite-“ she looked over Fumio’s shoulder with a stern expression, presumably at the man she saw when she first entered, “Now, what seems to be the problem?”

 

Fumio looked down at her lap, biting her lip.

 

“Um, I think- well, not think- but I’m pretty sure someone’s stalking my family. We’ve already gone to the police for help, but they say it’s not a big deal,” she explained. When she looked back at Katsuragi, she was surprised to see the man by the desk now sitting beside the detective.

 

Meanwhile, Katsuragi rubbed the back of her head with a strange expression. Fumio would say it was something between fondness and irritation, though she couldn’t know for sure.

 

“And?” the man asked. Fumio stuttered our an apology when she realized she’d been caught staring. “This is my assistant, Nougami Neuro,” Katsuragi supplied. Fumio nodded, her cheeks still burning.

 

“A-anyway, we’ve received letters and other random stuff from this stalker, and it continued even after we moved houses. I was wondering if you could help find him?”

 

“Is there anything else?” Nougami pressed, smile in place but still unsettling the girl. Katsuragi spared him an annoyed glance and muttered an apology to Fumio before urging her to answer the question.

 

Fumio let her gaze linger on the man, a feeling of unease settling in her stomach. “That’s all,” she said. The man leaned back, eyes swirling almost unnaturally- Fumio, for some reason, felt compelled to look away.

 

Nougami and Katsuragi shared a look. They seemed to have had an entire conversation within that moment. Katsuragi’s assistant turned his attention towards Fumio, who involuntarily tensed.

 

As if sending the growing tension, Katsuragi reached out to grab Fumio’s half finished and now-cold tea. The girl sent her a grateful look. “Well, I’m just going to set this aside,” she said, placing the cup to her left.

 

“It seems Sensei doesn’t want to take on your case. Apologies- she’s very picky about what she solves,” Nougami loudly announced, almost making Fumio jump out of her skin.

 

It takes a moment for his words to register in Fumio’s mind, and when it does, she catches the look of amusement on the man’s face. She felt a flash of indignation, feeling offended by the way he looked (down, she was sure he was looking down) at her.

 

“What? I came here for help- if it’s money you want then I’ll gladly pay for it. My family certainly isn’t in any financial debt,” she reasoned. Nougami listened with apparent disinterest while Katsuragi tiredly massaged the bridge of her nose.

 

“Sorry-“ the female detective began, right before her head was grabbed and pushed aside. “We’ve no business with boring mysteries such as yours. There are better things to do, more delicious cases to be solved,” he continued, eyes narrowing at her. His smile widened and Fumio swore she saw fangs poking out of the corners of his mouth.

 

He then declared, “Right, Sensei?”

 

Katsuragi pried her head out of his grip. “Sorry! Sorry, we’ve got a lot of things on our hands right now, more than I originally thought-“ at that, Fumio raised an eyebrow, “-so we can’t take on another case.”

 

Fumio felt anger boil in her stomach- their excuse was flimsy at best! She wasn’t stupid, she knew when people where lying right to her face.

 

“You’re making excuses, not taking me seriously,” she ground out between her gritted teeth. “Just because nothing too bad has happened to my family doesn’t mean nothing will,” she spat, getting louder with each word.

 

“We understand, it’s just-“ “Why should we take the words of a worm seriously?”

 

“You’re just as useless as the police!”

 

She huffed, releasing all her stress in that single sentence. The office was silent. Fumio’s face drained in color when she realized what she’d yelled. She spared a glance at Nougami, who was watching his employer with interest.

 

Fumio’s gaze shifted to the other girl, feeling the air around her freeze when her eyes landed on said girl. Katsuragi, who at first welcomed her with warmth, now regarded her coldly, a paralyzing intensity in her eyes.

 

Fumio gulped.

 

“The police,” she began slowly, “are not useless. You just have to take some time to find the good ones instead of looking once and giving up on them entirely. Which I’m assuming,” she glared, “-you didn’t do.”

 

Fumio’s mouth seemed to have run dry. In the corner of her vision, she spotted Nougami lazily drumming his fingers against the armrest. He was still smiling. Katsuragi continued.

 

“There are many good people in the police force, just as there are bad ones. Do not generalize them just because of one bad experience. There are people there who’ve died-“ for a moment, the detective faltered, but she regained her composure just as quickly, “-for your safety. So I implore you to kindly not call them useless.”

 

Again, there was silence. Fumio opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she found herself nodding at the younger girl in spite of the unpleasant feeling inside her from being scolded by a nineteen year old.

 

Katsuragi stood up. Fumio followed right after her. Resuming her professional face, Katsuragi led her to the door as she said, “Thank you for visiting us. I’m sorry we couldn’t help, but here’s a card from one of my associates working for the police. I’m sure if you ask him he’ll open a proper investigation.”

 

Fumio took the card handed to her. On it was the name “ _Ishigaki Jun_ ” and what looked to be his number. When she looked up at Katsuragi, she muttered a half-hearted “Thank you”.

 

She looked back at the door and almost tripped over her feet. The detective’s assistant held the door open for her, his face the perfect picture of innocence. When had he gotten there? How had she not heard him walk to and open the door?

 

Her stomach churned uncomfortably. She really needed to leave.

 

She stepped out of the office a little faster than necessary. She turned back to the two detectives and bowed her head before walking away as fast as possible without being seen as suspicious.

 

As she left, she heard a yell from inside the office.

 

”Ow! Neuro!”

 

“You’ve evolved quite nicely while I was away! Congratulations, slave- you’ve been promoted to snail.”

 

“Neuro, a snail’s just a slug but with a shell. There’s practically no differen-“

 

Then the voices faded, and Fumio could finally allow herself to relax.

 

The assistant unnerved her for reasons she couldn’t name, and Katsuragi Yako was completely different from the childish celebrity she had imagined her to be.

 

They were, simply put, the oddest pair of people she’s ever met.

 

She then looked back at the hall and shivered. No, she decided, she would not be going back there again. However, looking at the card the young detective handed her, maybe she’d give the police another shot.


End file.
